Please describe your organization and its mission.

I work for an organization called NorthEast Treatment Centers. We are a non-profit provider based out of Philadelphia and Delaware offering a wide range of behavioral health, mental health, addiction, foster care, community-based, residential, and in-home social services to adults, adolescents, children, and families. The agency's mission is to provide the highest quality continuum of care to the area's most vulnerable populations, and to do so in innovative, efficient, and cost-effective ways. We stress community wellness and family support across all of our services, and work always to foster resiliency in our clients to help them succeed in their lives long after we're involved. We have about 800 employees, and service approximately 10,000 clients per year.

What is your current role for your organization?

My role in the organization is as Director of Court Services. I manage our Juvenile Justice Unit, which is comprised of various community-based supervision programs for youth formally involved in the juvenile justice system (JJS). As a firm believer that "kids are kids," and much of what has been criminalized in our inner-cities would, in other locales, fall under the label of "normal teenage behavior" (and much of what does not could otherwise be labeled as "normal teenage reactions to trauma"), I have always been a staunch proponent of community supervision options for system-involved youth, believing that out-of-home placement should only be utilized as a last option, and creative alternatives to detention should be employed to engage and retain youth in their home environments whenever possible to avoid the negative (and traditionally expensive) effects of disrupting their normal development.

I run programs to supervise youth in their homes while they progress through the juvenile justice system, working to ensure public safety while providing mentorship and life skills training to help our clients avoid future recidivism. Currently, I manage an In-Home Detention Program, a "Post-Adjudicatory" Evening Reporting Center, and a Youth Leadership Council, and my unit has also partnered with our agency's Addiction Services Division to help launch an integrated model of adolescent drug and alcohol treatment for our youth in need of additional supports. We've also been working with Temple University Hospital in recent months to design and implement a case management program to provide access to therapeutic, medical, and job readiness programs for survivors of gun violence.

Over the past few years, I've also been lucky enough to represent our agency on a few additional panels and working groups, including Philadelphia's Disproportionate Minority Contact Working Group and Youth Violence Prevention Collaborative's Health Subcommittee. I've also had the good fortune to work to with various system stakeholders to help support the city's Sports for Juvenile Justice Initiative.

Essentially, I have the best role possible at my agency. I just kind of run around and try to get my hands dirty in as many out-of-the-box ways as possible to help kids work their way out of the juvenile justice system in a productive, responsible manner.

How has Fels helped you in your career so far?

Fels has been helpful to my career in providing some practical hands-on management and administrative skills to bolster my working "tool-kit." As an executive, we're all working professionals in addition to students, and many of the concepts we're learning in class revolve around issues we've already encountered in our daily working lives and can now attack more efficiently, or with a greater understanding of their underlying factors.

It's been my experience in the social services sector that so many of us on the management level have risen professionally through demonstrating proficiency in the delivery of direct-care services, and yet effective management often requires a different skill-set and knowledge base. In my case at least, I became a manager at a pretty young age and learned most of my lessons through a mix of professional development opportunities and on-the-job training, and so it's been helpful to now apply some of the formal "book training" into the equation as well. It also never hurts to be exposed to really intelligent peers who have been successful in a variety of other professions, and the numerous discussions and beers with colleagues to kick ideas around after class has also been quite informative.

What was your favorite Fels course and why?

As we're currently in budget prep season at my job, I'd say that my favorite class to date has been Financial Management of Non-Profits. This class has given me numerous hands-on exercises and tools to better my understanding and general non-profit financial literacy, which was an area I was really looking forward to further developing when I applied for an MPA. This class has already helped me to design various models to make sure we're always working to make the soundest financial decisions possible as a unit.

What advice do you have for incoming executive students?

Really try to find ways to utilize some of the concepts you are learning in each class each week and apply them immediately to whatever you're doing in your professional life. I might not be a grand Giuliani fan, but during my Art of Politics class, I tried (for a whole few weeks, at least) to implement his "morning meetings" at work. I had many-a-spirited debates with my economics professor about the societal value of maximum efficiency but left the class able to present the merits of community-based juvenile justice services in strictly economic terms, not simply by tugging on the old proverbial heart-strings. Obviously, as with any education, the farther away you progress from a class, the fuzzier some of the more intricate details become, but what I've tried throughout this MPA program so far has been to create some ongoing systems for myself when I'm at the height of my book understanding that will potentially last me for years.

Obviously, as the cost of education skyrockets there are continued debates on whether a degree can now be considered on some level a consumer good, but even if one were to answer that question with the most cynical of affirmatives, through my investment in this MPA program I've gained not only valuable knowledge but also practical work products that will stay with me throughout the rest of my career.

Deeply dedicated to the city of Philadelphia, Ami Patel saw the institute as a way to jumpstart her role as a public leader—and a gateway to meeting students with similar mindsets.

“Jumping into the program is probably the best decision I could have made,” she says. “I’ve made meaningful connections with the people around me. I can learn so much from all of them.”

Since enrolling, Ami has taken full advantage of the practical experiences and valuable connections afforded by Fels. A fellow with ImpactED, a Penn organization that helps public and voluntary sector organizations maximize their impact, Ami also sits on a number of student organizations and has held several internships within the City of Philadelphia government. She has done so with the support of the Public Leadership and Service Stipend, which funds students who take on unpaid public-sector internships.

“That’s one of the amazing things that Fels offers,” she says. “It’s not only allowing you to take an internship, it’s also acknowledging that we want to work in the public sector, and that’s valuable. They’re willing to invest in us.”

After graduation, Ami looks forward to continuing to bridge the public sector and the citizens of Philadelphia—and sees almost endless opportunities to do so.

“I understand so much more how institutions interact,” she says. “Fels opened my eyes to a completely new world. It’s just really expanded what I feel like I can do. I definitely would not have had that without coming to Fels.”

Bilal Iftikhar knows the stereotypes surrounding government: that bureaucracy stalls progress and red tape creates unnecessary difficulties. But Bilal is determined to address those criticisms—and put his Fels education to work.

“With the Executive MPA, I believe I will be prepared with tools that will allow me to make a lasting mark in the public sector,” he says. “Real improvements can be made if leaders understand where we are going and where we have been.”

Currently employed as director of public works for the city of Sanford, FL, Bilal has spent years working in the public sector. And while he has a solid technical understanding of the way government works, Bilal credits Fels with expanding his knowledge base.

“This program has provided beneficial insight on how other departments operate. I have developed knowledge and expanded upon and challenged ideas I already had,” he says. “This has helped me understand how new policies in my department may mesh with existing policies of other departments, as well as how they interface with public affairs, public perception, and public reception.”

Living, working and raising a family in a different city than your university sounds daunting. But the hybrid structure of the EMPA program—and the support of its faculty and fellow students—have allowed Bilal to make the program fit his lifestyle. “Attending once a month on-site and weekly online courses work well with my schedule,” he says. “Being on the campus, I have access to a wide range of speakers and opportunities that have allowed me to take control of my college experience.”

Formerly a Senior Impact Manager with City Year, an AmeriCorps partner, Matthew Forrest (Master of Public Administration ’19) was no stranger to creative problem-solving in the public sector—but he wanted to get a bigger-picture view of public administration. “I wanted to take courses that gave me experiences I could walk out of the classroom and use,” he recalls. “That’s really the Fels Institute of Government approach to public administration and policy.” In addition, he says, the ability to take courses across the University of Pennsylvania seemed like a good way to broaden his perspective. “There’s a strong argument to be made that pretty much everything supports the public sector,” laughs Matthew. “The way electives are set up at Fels is a big selling point.”

One such elective became the inspiration for Matthew’s capstone research project. After taking a course in community and economic development, Matthew grew interested in gaining more practical experience in this field—and found his opportunity when Fels Lab partner Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) posted a request for support in developing a local government relations strategic plan. “The project itself is focused on government advocacy and strategy, but it’s supporting an organization that does community and economic development work every day,” he explains. “I’d previously worked on making organizations more effective and efficient, and this was a new opportunity to help an organization in a different field meet its goals.” It takes time and resources for an organization like LISC to keep up to speed on state and local legislation that impacts their work, so Matthew created an action-oriented plan to help LISC leverage resources and influence key decision-makers in Philadelphia community revitalization.

Matthew’s Fels Lab project taught him more than practical lessons in community development. “You’re collaborating and sharing information with an organization, but there’s a limited amount of time,” he observes, noting that the research project placed him in the role of consultant rather than intern or employee. “It was challenging, and it pushed me to understand what I can accomplish at this scope and scale,” he adds.

Alicia Jiggetts (MPA ’23) credits the Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Foundation with helping her discover her civic identity. As a Bonner Scholar in college, she served as a local news correspondent and worked in restoration of rights and workforce development programs. “I would go to city council and school board meetings to highlight things going on within Richmond’s local government, and then write recap articles about what happened at the meetings,” she recalls. “That's what really pushed me into wanting to learn more about law and government, and how I can be a catalyst for change as someone who understands the law but also wants to influence policy.” Alicia went on to pursue a law degree after college, with the intention of following up with another graduate degree to open career pathways at the intersection of law and policy. Since the Bonner Foundation is a Fels Institute of Government admissions partner, she learned about Fels’ Full-time Master of Public Administration (MPA)—and that connection convinced Alicia that Fels was serious about civic engagement.

After three years of law school, Alicia was energized by the pacing of this one-year, full-time program. “Fels teaches us a lot of skills in a short amount of time, and we're constantly building on the things that we've learned in previous classes. There's not one class that I've felt like I'm not going to use,” she says. “They really push us to hit the ground running and they challenge us to try new things.” Among the new topics that Alicia explored were consulting, public communication, game theory, and quantitative skills such as statistical analysis. “There’s a joke in law school that lawyers can’t do math,” she laughs. “That was something I had to work through when I got to Fels. But statistics was my favorite class last semester. I spent a lot of time here in the Fels mansion, doing problems on the whiteboard with my classmates, and that was something I enjoyed a lot.” As one of her electives, Alicia decided to deepen her data skill set with a course on data visualization in which she not only learned how to create maps from large data sets, but to make them interactive and accessible for non-experts to explore—a skill which she then put to work for her capstone project.

“The capstone is a great way to put into practice a lot of the skills that we are learning in our core classes,” explains Alicia. She is partnered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) – New York Crime Gun Intelligence Center, and is working with them on a comprehensive analysis of violent gun crime data. Alicia, who has considered pursuing a career as a prosecutor, considers data literacy to be a valuable tool for a legal professional; for example, as a prosecutor, she would want a data-based understanding the underlying trends and patterns behind any criminal case. “I think that a big part of a prosecutor’s job is getting people off the streets who are harmful to the community—but at the same time, if we’re not improving communities and doing things to make them better, then am I really doing the most good?” she says. With her passion for government and policy, however, Alicia hasn’t ruled out a career as legal counsel for a municipality, such as the City of Philadelphia, or a federal agency like the ATF. “A lot of federal agencies have attorneys who provide legal insight on their activities,” she says. “An attorney who understands statistics would be better equipped to give any agency advice.”

In addition to her full-time course load and capstone research, Alicia also took on a spring fellowship with the School District of Philadelphia, drawing on her communications skill set and Bonner Scholar experience with local school boards. She is also one of the programming chairs for the Black Graduate Women’s Association, and the president of the International City/County Management Association. “I love keeping busy,” she says. “I think that’s not only a big part of why I applied to Fels, but why I was accepted. Fels really values students who want to be involved in their community in different ways.”

At Fels, that includes not only the wider community of Philadelphia but the tight-knit cohort of classmates who entered the program at the same time. “The Fels community consists of three tight-knit cohorts of classmates who entered the program at the same time, as well as public administrators who work in Philadelphia and beyond," says Alicia. “I love the small cohort. I know everybody, I know what their interests are, we can have amazing conversations, and we all get along." Her peers bring perspectives from disciplines including politics, economics, and law; some students in her cohort recently graduated college while others, like Alicia, already have one or more graduate degrees. Their diversity of experience is part of what makes their classroom conversations so rich, says Alicia. “I tend to think very locally, and I tend to think a lot about legal ramifications, whereas someone else might think more about ethical concerns or economic consequences,” she says. “If you don't have the different layers of diversity and intersectionality, you might form one set idea of how things should be and what things should look like.” With different areas of focus, some classmates may disagree on specific topics or solutions, but Alicia considers that a strength of the cohort. “Even if we have we have differences of opinions, being able to respectfully disagree and have a friendly debate or just talk through projects together, that's really valuable. In a lot of public sector jobs, you work in teams, you need to collaborate, and you need to have good working relationships,” she explains.

“We have a very cooperative environment. We all want everyone in our cohort to succeed,” she concludes. “At Fels, you have to be prepared to work hard. But the overwhelming support system you have here will push you to your end goal.”